History Of Schruns

Originally known as Sankt Jossen, Schruns changed names several times over history. These were calls to “Schirun,” in 1317, “Scherun,” in 1400, “St. Josen in Schiruns,” and finally “Schruns,” in 1430. Said to have started in the Rhaeto-Romanic dialect, the name “Schruns” comes from “Ascherun,” which means “maple forest.”

In 1420 Schruns and the other Montafon sites joined Austria.For a good length of time, it was run under the parish of Bartholomäberg.For this particular municipality, which had a much bigger land area, the Litz River acted as the municipal border.The Ill River experienced major channel changes before the catastrophic flood of 1762, which resulted in a separation between Tschagguns and Schruns.Documents going back to 1482 and 1484 refer to the church “St. Josen zu Schruns.”

Establishing themselves as an autonomous parish, the ecclesiastical community of Schruns broke away from its parent parish, Sankt Bartholomäberg in 1579.For a notable length of time, Bartholomäberg controlled the whole Ausserlitz area. During the Thirty Years’ War, Prättigau pillaging soldiers raided Schruns in 1622. The troops crossed the Schlappiner Joch to get at their target.Unlike the current state, in 1621 Habsburg soldiers looted the Prättigau area.

The plague outbreaks in 1591 and 1629 claimed a great death toll.Four people died in a sad incident on the Stiefen during the winter of 1689. There were some terrible avalanches this specific winter.In 1682 a fire destroyed the parish church.Given that the tragedy happened during daylight, it is likely that the surrounding houses were spared.Ulrich Marent was named first guild master when the Valley Craftsmen’s Guild was founded in Schruns in 1696.

Two cattle markets in Schruns annually were given to the Montafon people by Empress Maria Theresa. These markets fell on September 22nd and April 2nd.Montafoner Braunvieh breed markets were commercially traded until they closed in 1999.Records show that Schruns had a reported 1230 population in 1754.

As the rivers Ill and Litz overflowed in 1762, a big flood seriously harmed the crops of the colony.Twenty homes in all suffered damage from the floods.Following much work, Schruns was awarded his own court and permission to hold general markets in 1775. Between 1796 and 1799 Schruns encountered formidable obstacles.Leading the local marksmen in military engagements against Napoleon’s army in Feldkirch and on the Schlappener Joch was Landammann Batlogg.1800 saw occupation of the area.

Bavaria administered the Montafon area between 1805 and 1814.That era saw the building of the valley road across Schruns.The Habsburg family rotated Vorarlberg, alternately between Tyrol and Anterior Austria (Freiburg im Breisgau).From its founding in 1861, Schruns has been a fixture of the Vorarlberg state in Austria. A flood of the Ill on June 14 and 15, 1910 caused major destruction to the municipality.As such, building of the Litz dam started in 1911.

From 1925 to 1926, Ernest Hemingway was a regular long-term visitor to Schruns.He completed his work, “Fiesta,” which marked his literary debut during this time.His time in Schruns had a big influence on his works, especially “Snow on Kilimanjaro” and “Paris – A Celebration for Life.”He decided to lodge at two separate hotels while visiting Montafon. First was the Hotel Taube in Schruns, and second was the Madlenerhaus on Bielerhöhe in Silvretta.

Schruns applied in 1924 for a coat of arms and market elevation.On July 1, 1928, Schruns hosted a great celebration honoring the town’s official market community designation. October 21, 1927 saw the state parliament award this elevation under Ferdinand Redler.

From 1938 to 1945 Schruns was a territory under German Reich. It lay in the Bludenz area of the Reichsgau Tirol-Vorarlberg.Demonstrations in the church square following the Anschluss mostly focused on May 1st.Operating under the Reich Labor Service (RAD), there was a camp close to the present Ausserlitz social center especially intended for young women.The lucky result of French soldiers arriving in Montafon on May 4, 1945, was that no combat took place in the valley.The local resistance groups had effectively disarmed and seized command of the Wehrmacht troops.Schruns worked in the French occupation zone in Austria between 1945 and 1955.Bahnhofstrasse, more especially the current site known as “Haus Walser,” housed the French headquarters for the Montafon region.

Since World War II ended, Schruns has seen notable increase in tourism and economy.Schruns underwent an ignition for the first time since the war in 1946. Starting the fire fell to Otto Borger.

November 1949 found the founding of the Montafon Ski Club.The company effectively brought together every winter sports group in the valley and built the required facilities to host big international events.Schruns became known as the venue for alpine ski world cup events, especially the elite Gold Key races run from 1963 to 1983.

Designed to serve the Montafon area, the Schruns-Dorf secondary school opened in 1950

Over three days, Vorarlberg had a snowy winter marked by a sequence of events including avalanches and snow slides in January 1954. These sad events claimed the life of 112 persons overall.A dust avalanche started from Monteneu, above Bartholomäberg, dropped into the Litztobel on January 11, 1954, causing major damage along its path.Two avalanches in the towns of Bartholomäberg and Schruns on the same day claimed 23 lives tragically. To pay tribute to the victims, Montjola built a memorial stone in 2004 during autumn. The cemetery chapel in Schruns now features a plaque honoring the accident victims. It names every one of the people who perished.

Schruns received the “Place of Respect” award in 2014 for its exceptional efforts in housing and caring for Asylum Seekers. The former Maria Rast hospital has been used for this aim since December 2004; it is a commendable example in the community.

Officially closing on June 30, 2017, the Montafon district court had been operating autonomously for more than 250 years. On the L 188 the Montafon estate, Montafon Tourismus, and the forest fund relocated to a new construction in 1995.

From 1981 to 1991 the migration balance dropped. Still, the birth balance corrected this.Emigration surged significantly between 1991 and 2001, which caused population to drop.Over the course of the next ten years, the migration balance stayed rather constant; the birth balance showed a first negative trend.With an average of 2.13 people per house in 2018, Schruns had the smallest household size among Montafon areas. Furthermore found was the 11.3% second house percentage in the area.Schruns was the only valley town with a positive commuter balance in 2016. Its resident count was 944 overall.